LAS VEGAS – The Mountain West announced its 2025-26 men’s basketball awards Tuesday. The league’s 12 head coaches and selected media members voted on the All-Conference teams, as well as the coach, player, defensive player, newcomer, sixth man and freshman honors.
Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun was named the MW Steve Fisher Coach of the Year, while Aggie junior guard Mason Falslev was selected as the MW Player of the Year. San Diego State’s Miles Byrd was voted as the Defensive Player of the Year. UNLV junior guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn was voted the MW Newcomer of the Year, while Utah State junior forward Karson Templin was recognized as MW Sixth Man of the Year. New Mexico newcomer Jake Hall was honored as the MW Freshman of the Year.
Calhoun guided the Aggies to a 15-5 mark in Conference play as they won the Mountain West regular-season title and enter the 2026 Credit Union 1 MW Men’s Basketball Championship as the No. 1 seed. Calhoun is the third Aggie skipper to win coach of the year and first since 2024 when Danny Sprinkle was honored.
Falslev is the third Aggie to be named Mountain West Player of the Year and the first player from USU to be selected since 2024 (Great Osobor). During his junior campaign, Falslev lead the team with 16.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, while connecting on 51.6 percent of attempts from the field.
Byrd is the fifth straight Aztec to be voted MW Defensive Player of the Year and ninth in school history. Byrd recorded 11 points and five boards per game in MW action. He also led the league in steals, averaging 2.2, and finished Conference action with 1.5 blocks per game, ranking third in the MW.
Gibbs-Lawhorn is the second player from UNLV to earn MW Newcomer of the Year honors, joining Mike Moser in 2012. He finished the Conference season with an MW-leading 23.6 points per game, scoring 30 or more in six MW outings. Gibbs-Lawhorn also averaged 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, while shooting 53.5 percent from the floor.
Templin is the fourth Aggie in the last six seasons to be named MW Sixth Man of the Year. He appeared in all 20 league games, averaging 9.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. The forward shot just over 54 percent from the field during MW play.
Hall becomes the third Lobo to be named MW Freshman of the Year since 2011. In his first season in the Mountain West, Hall averaged 17.5 points per game, ranking among the top five in the league. He also posted the second-best three-point field goal percentage (.465) in the MW after setting the Conference freshman record for triples made (66) in a season.
